Exploring Lincoln

I have never visited Lincoln before. My mistake. What a stunning City seething with history! Totally dominated by the Cathedral; a monumental structure and fine tribute to the long lost tradition of English stone masonry. Blue skies and warm sunshine…perfect for exploring. Firstly I dragoned Birchwood Primary school and they have an AWESOME painting of a dragon in their staffroom executed by a governor of the school (he executed the painting I might add, not the dragon!)

On to Lincoln then…and lunch at Cafe Zoot on Newport and then fortified by the best Thai green chicken curry I’ve had for a long time, on to the Cathedral. There was a military funeral being held in St Hugh’s Choir and the music was extremely moving. I wandered round the immense stone nave admiring the stained glass windows (round ones called the Dean’s Eye and the Canon’s Eye) and beautiful wooden carvings of The Forest Stations by William Fairbank. I couldn’t believe I saw a face of a nun looking out at the carvings from a stain on the stone work. (See photo). I also found the Lincoln Imp…hiding in a sculptural relief above a bearded face. Lincoln Castle deserves more than a couple of hours….walking round the top of the walls, there are fantastic views of the Cathedral and the city below. You can see exactly why the castle was built on that spot in 1068 – clear views for miles around in every direction. The Magna Carta is also on view…the document which spawned democracy back in 1215 when King John was fighting with his dissenting barons who were rebelling against heavy taxation. Also on view is the lesser known Charter of the Forest, which was only repealed in 1971…this gave commoners the right to graze their animals and harvest the fruits of the forest even on Royal Hunting grounds. The prison is also a fascinating piece of Lincoln history, and the chapel is the only remaining example of a ‘separate system’ chapel in the world. The prisoners stood in boxes and were aligned so they could see the preacher in the pulpit but not each other. Spine tingling stuff. The city is well worth a visit and I will return.

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